A public enquiry in to the Rochdale grooming scandal

When girls as young as 14 were plied with vodka, threatened with violence and passed around men for sex. Why did it take so long for something to be done about it?

The fact is that 'the age of consent' in the UK is 16 years old. This means that according to the law, only those who are aged 16 or over are able to freely agree to any sexual activity, in full understanding of the consequences of having sex. This applies if you want to have sex with someone of the opposite sex, or the same sex.

So why did the police and CPS do nothing when a young girl reported being raped by a gang of men when she was underage?

Consent is when a person freely gives their permission or agrees to something, after having carefully thought about whether or not they want to do it. This decision should have been made without that person being: pressured or bullied, encouraged to use drugs or alcohol to influence their decision, or manipulated or made to feel stupid.

In the UK the law says that both people must give their consent before any physical closeness or sexual activity. This means that if you want to have sex, you should always make sure that your partner wants to as well.

The law also says that to consent to sex a person must be over 16 and have the ability to make informed decisions for themselves.

It is always a crime to have sexual activity with somebody without their consent. If someone does not feel free to make a choice (e.g. because they were pressured or threatened) then they have not consented, even if they don’t say no.

In view of the law anyone under the age of 16 years old is unable to give their consent so we the public demand to know why girls under the age of 16 years old were ignored even when there was DNA evidence.

Currently no one from the police force, CPS or social workers have been held accountable.

We the public demand a public inquiry into the criminal justice system that allowed this to continue happening. These girls were not protect by the very people that are paid by taxpayers money to uphold the law. Why were the girls continually ignored and left to be continually abused by their attacks?